


Legendary - Crazy Storm Shenanigans

by PKofLight



Series: Linked Universe - Legendary Works [6]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: All Parts of Four Show Up Again, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 13:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19086016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PKofLight/pseuds/PKofLight
Summary: “Sprite…? Is… Is everything okay?” asked the Champion, turning to him when the Hero of Hyrule’s hand brushed against his arm. “You look really pale, what’s wrong?”“I-I… I don’t…” He was trembling. He could feel it. Every breath was hard to take. Every step was getting wobbly. Was the sky the ground? Or…? “Chest…”“What about your chest? Sprite?”The Hero of Hyrule collapsed.





	Legendary - Crazy Storm Shenanigans

They’d been in a fight since they had touched down in the field after the switch. The monsters had swarmed, the Blins had come at them, and there was nearly no end in sight. Each Link had taken their blade and their shield, and had simply not batted an eyelash. The fight was nothing new - they would defeat the swarm, and figure out where they were later.

The Hero of Legend rolled out of the way of an attacking Blin, striking them from behind as soon as he was able. The Hero of the Wind unleashed a Hurricane Spin, causing a few others to have to dodge out of the way to avoid getting struck. The Hero of the Four Sword unleashed a bomb on an incoming Blin, while the Hero of Hyrule dodged an attack and struck another. The Hero of the Wilds had his bow out, three arrows in his hands, and rained down on four before him. The Hero of the Sky held his sword up skyward, and then struck down, a beam of light striking down on everything before him. The Heroes of Warriors and Time had a few others distracted, while the Hero of Twilight had yet another locked in combat.

It was an endless stream of fighting. An endless fight that saw no end for nearly half an hour. One Blin, large and bulky, bearing a large, wooden club, stepped into the fray, and the others all stepped aside to allow it through before returning to their own fights.

“Are you kidding me?!” exclaimed the Hero of Warriors. “Now we got that guy to deal with!” He turned swiftly, stabbing a Blin that had come up behind him, before kicking it away entirely. “Listen! We need to finish this now and quickly, we’re out of healing options and we don’t have much daylight left! We have no idea where we are!”

“Tell that to them,” argued the Hero of Twilight as he cut off the head of a Blin and turned to stab another. “Does that mean you have a plan to finish this quickly?”

The Hero of Time swung his own sword, taking down three at once. “Please, enlighten us.”

For a moment, the Hero of Warriors was quiet as he focused on taking down enemies that had swarmed around him. The Heroes of Wind and the Four Sword had managed to make it to his side before he was able to continue. “We need to take out the big guy. He’s clearly the leader.”

“Alright, and how do we do that?” asked the Hero of Hyrule, as he went pale at the sight of more oncoming Blins. “What’s the plan?”

“Once he’s gone, the crowd will thin. The ranch-hand, old man and the skyboy can focus on him. They’re the strongest, oldest and fastest of all of us,” explained the Hero of Warriors as they started to get crowded, forming a little circle of Heroes as the Blins surrounded them. “The rest of us can focus on crowd control. Vet, you’ve got the most experience with the Fire Rod. It’s your oldest weapon - use it. Sprite, you’ve got the most magic. Use it to protect us, and reflect any attacks. Smithy, I’m sorry to ask this of you--”

“... Already done,” stated a sudden voice that was unique to the blue Hero of the Four Sword. In the midst of the speech, they’d already divided, and were now clustered by the Hero of Warriors’ feet.

“I imagine we’re on dealing damage or distraction?” questioned the violet member. “We can do that easily enough.”

“Practically masters of it,” gloated the green member.

“You can count on us!” chimed the red member.

“Excellent. Thanks,” sighed the Hero of Warriors, clearly relieved they had anticipated his plan. “Champion, you’re the best archer. Focus on the ones far away from us, and take down any stragglers. Pike, you’re with me. Our job is to keep any of this crowd off of the three that are focused on the leader.”  And with that, he gestured to the Heroes of Time, Twilight, and the Sky. “So we’re… on guard duty. Any of these Blins that manage to get past the others to rush them, we’re to take care of them.”

“Got it,” agreed the Hero of the Wind.

There was a moment of anticipation. They all had their roles. The Hero of Legend swapped out his Tempered Sword for his Fire Rod. The Hero of the Wilds nocked three arrows to his bow. A few seconds passed.

“Now!” exclaimed the Hero of Warriors.

Everyone jumped into action. Weapons were set off, swords were swung, and the Heroes of Time, Twilight, and the Sky rushed the large Blin with the club. The Blin clearly didn’t want to focus on just those three, and threw down his club at the ground, causing one of the Heroes of the Four Sword and the Hero of Legend to dodge out of the way.

The Hero of Time did not bother to check which Hero of the Four Sword had nearly been flattened. Instead, he rushed with his sword to practically avenge them and the Hero of Legend, who was yelling out obscenities at all the Blins, and the large one. Fire streamed around him as he unleashed the power of his Fire Rod, and the Heroes of the Four Sword gave out cries of colours, orders, and stress as they bombarded a group of Blins that had gathered around the Hero of the Wind.

The large Blin now swung his club again, causing the Heroes fighting him to dodge or roll out of the way. He then slammed it down once more, but at that point, the others had scattered the others enough that they were a good distance away, save for the Heroes of Warriors, Hyrule, and the Wind, as they kept a close eye on the three still battling the large Blin.

“Steady!” called out the Hero of Time, as he and the Hero of Twilight readied their blades. The Hero of the Sky had his own sword held aloft, ready for another Skyward Strike. “... Steady…”

Within moments, the large Blin raised his club once more, and immediately, the Heroes of Time and Twilight rushed in with their swords. The Blin was knocked back, his club nearly falling out of his hands. He managed to right himself, and readied his club again.

“He’s not going down fast enough,” stated the Hero of the Sky, slashing down a Skyward Strike and mildly muttering out annoyance when it didn’t fell the beast. “We need a new strategy, old man, ranch-hand!”

“Right,” muttered the Hero of Twilight. He then called out, “We need to distract him somehow, and then one of us take him from behind.”

“Be careful!” called out the Hero of Hyrule. “I’ll cast a protective spell on you, then go for it!”

In moments, the spell was cast thrice in hand, covering the three Heroes as they turned their attention back to the large Blin, who had prepared to swing once more. This time, however, the beast was doing it wildly, nearly striking all three in the process. The Hero of Time called out a warning to the others as well, who had managed to cull the Blins that had surrounded them. Now, they had realized, the large Blin was focusing on wide strokes to take out all twelve of them as fast and painful as possible.

“Careful!” screamed out the Hero of the Sky, as he rolled out of the way of a wild strike. “He’s getting antsy!”

“He wants to take us out as fast as we want to take him out,” observed the Hero of Legend. “‘Cause of course that’s the case.” He stepped back to avoid a strike and readied to aim his Rod. “Alright, guys, fire’s gonna fly--”

“So are arrows,” added the Hero of the Wilds, cutting him off and already aiming his bow for the Blin’s head.

The large Blin gave out an angry cry, slamming his club down against the ground. The Heroes all paused, staring and watching him closely, each with either magic, weapon, or shield ready. He swung, several times, nearly striking them as he stepped forward some more. Wildly swinging, he eventually smacked the Hero of Hyrule right in the chest, who was knocked back into a nearby tree, nearly knocked out.

“Sprite!” called out the Hero of Legend. “Sprite, you good?!”

“Y-yeah… Yeah,” gasped out the Hero of Hyrule as he struggled to stand. The red member of the Hero of the Four Sword rushed to his side to check on him.

“Red, stay there! We’ll take care of this guy!” yelled out the blue member.

“Everyone, let the attacks fly! This guy is going down!” called out the Hero of Warriors.

In a flash, a barrage of arrows, fire, and even one case of a boomerang, was set loose on the large Blin, knocking him back and onto the ground on his back. In one swift move, the Hero of the Wind was the one to rush forward, sword in hand. With a loud yell, he launched himself up in the air, and came barreling down on the large Blin, stabbing his sword right into the beast’s neck. The creature died, and the Heroes allowed themselves a moment of peace.

The Hero of Legend stepped up, favouring his right leg. “... Okay, that was a load of bullshit.” He still held on tightly to his Fire Rod, clearly not ready to entirely let down his guard.

“Alright,” the Hero of Time began, giving the Hero of Legend a stern look for the limp. “Everyone alright?”

“We’re fine,” called out the green member of the Hero of the Four Sword as they flocked over to the red one together. “Just give us a moment, we’ll reform in a bit.”

“Somehow we managed to get out unscathed of that mess,” the violet member said with a shrug. “How’s our humble traveller?”

The Hero of Hyrule gave a mild wince as he moved to stand. “... Just a bruise, I think… Everything seems to be in place after that hit.” He took a moment, helped by the four fragments of the Hero of the Four Sword, and managed to get on his two feet. “... Thanks, smithies.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay,” said the red member with a bright smile.

“Ow!” cried out the Hero of the Wind then, as the Hero of Warriors checked his arm. “Hey, hey! Quit that!!” He gave out a little whine as the arm was inspected further.

“The pike’s got a gash here,” the Hero of Warriors announced.

“I have a spell that can fix that a little,” commented the Hero of Hyrule as he carefully approached, a trail of four Heroes following after him. “C’mere, little pirate…” Once the youngest had come up to him, he gently held the boy’s arm and began his spell, healing the injury as best as he could.

“I think I just need a moment,” said the Hero of Twilight. “Catch my breath and then get a potion when we get them.”

“I’m good…” gasped the Hero of the Sky. “... Just out of breath.”

The Hero of the Wild put a few arrows away, as he glanced around the field to see if any other arrows survived. “... I’m good. Don’t worry about me.” He approached a few of the corpses of Blins, and began to yank out some arrows that had remained sturdy somehow in the mess.

“Anyone else want to speak up?” asked the Hero of Warriors, as everyone glanced at the one who had yet to say anything, the Hero of Legend.

“Our veteran’s got something wrong with his right leg,” tattled the Hero of Time, drawing everyone’s attention to how the Vet was favouring it, and there was clearly blood on it. “He thinks he can hide it with his boot.”

“Hey, you. Stop, I’m fine,” sassed the Hero of Legend. “I can walk from Point A to Point B, and I think my house is down that road.” He gestured down the road and gave the others a sly grin. “... Yeah, this may or may not be my Hyrule. The house is down that road, and Ravio’s there, so guess who hoards stuff for potions as much as I hoard shit from adventures?”

The words caused the others to pause.

“Would… would he give them to us?” asked the Hero of the Wilds cautiously. “Isn’t your… Isn’t your friend some kind of merchant? And a weird one at that. What’s his price for that?”

“Hey, it’s fine, let me handle it,” said the Hero of Legend as he bent down to fix his boot covering his right leg. “I can deal with Ravio. We just need to get there.” He straightened and glanced around the group before looking around the field. “Yep, this road, here. It goes straight up to the house.”

“Perfect,” commented the Hero of Hyrule.

There was a moment as everyone gathered themselves after the fight. The four Heroes of the Four Sword gathered, bundling together and holding their swords together. In a flash, the one Hero stood before them, eyes closed and breathing gently and carefully. He finally opened his eyes after a brief moment, smiling up at all of them, memories sorted and in order. He had told them before that it was the hardest part of reforming, and not taking proper care to do it carefully led to the shocked state he had been in the first time.

“... I’m good,” he told them.

“Glad for the help, smithy,” the Hero of Warriors said with a smile, as he put a hand to the smallest one’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Everyone set?” asked the Hero of Time.

There was a moment while everyone glanced at each other, small smiles on all their faces. The Hero of Legend gave a huff, and turned toward the road that would lead to his house. He planted the Fire Rod into the ground, gauging the distance for a moment.

“How far away is it?” asked the Hero of the Wind, still cradling his arm. “It’s… not _too_ far, right?”

“Nah. Maybe a couple of hours,” The Hero of Legend assured them.

With that statement made, the Hero of Legend limped along the road, using his Fire Rod as a strange cane to keep his weight off his right leg. The others followed behind him, the Hero of Warriors making sure to stay by the Hero of the Wind’s side, just in case they were jumped again. The walk was relatively quiet, and also a bit slow, as their main guide was walking carefully so as to not add more damage to his leg.

Truthfully, the Hero of Hyrule was glad for the slow walk. With every step and every movement, every breath he took, he could feel something shift. Something was wrong. His chest was slowly becoming more and more pained. Every breath was harder and harder to make. He could feel the panic begin to rise with every second that passed. He reached out, trying to grab the nearest Hero, which happened to be the Hero of the Wilds.

“Sprite…? Is… Is everything okay?” asked the Champion, turning to him when the Hero of Hyrule’s hand brushed against his arm. “You look really pale, what’s wrong?”

“I-I… I don’t…” He was trembling. He could feel it. Every breath was hard to take. Every step was getting wobbly. Was the sky the ground? Or…? “Chest…”

“What about your chest? Sprite?”

The Hero of Hyrule collapsed. In response, the Hero of the Wilds tried to catch him and steady him, panicking when he felt against the sprite’s ribs. At just a small amount of pressure that he’d applied, the sprite gave out a cry of pain. That was not a good sign. He turned to the others, a pale expression on his face. “Guys! Something’s wrong! I think that hit broke a couple of his ribs!”

“What?!” exclaimed the Hero of Time, as he broke away from the Hero of Legend to storm over to where the Hero of the Wilds had the Hero of Hyrule in his arms. “How bad?”

“Hard to tell right now,” the Hero of the Wilds admitted. “But I can feel them. We need to get him somewhere safe. We can’t treat him out here.”

“We’re lacking basic potions and he’s our mage,” the Hero of Warriors pointed out, as the others turned toward the scene. “Champion, pick him up carefully.” He turned to the Hero of Legend, who was leaning onto his Fire Rod. “How far?”

“If I scream, Ravio can probably hear us,” was the Hero of Legend’s odd answer. He turned back to the road, and gestured to a plot of land not too far away with a scarecrow in a garden, and a simple house. “There. See it?”

The Hero of Time gave a nod and helped the Hero of the Wilds pick up their injured comrade. “We need to go.”

The Hero of the Wind was staring up at the sky. “... Soon, too. Can’t you smell it?” He was gazing with a stern expression, staring out at a black mass in the distance. “We’ve got a storm on the way, too.”

“Oh. Great,” scoffed the Hero of the Legend. “C’mon. Ravio should be at home and he can help out.”

With it now being a race against time, they gathered up their courage. The Hero of the Wilds practically booked it full force to the Hero of Legend’s home, making it there before anyone else, with his most precious cargo of the Hero of Hyrule. Before he could even knock, the door opened to reveal the Hero of Legend’s odd little friend.

“I thought I heard something!” he claimed, as he stepped aside to allow him in. Carefully, being mindful of a box right by the entrance, the Hero of the Wilds did step inside. “You’re Link’s family, right? Come on, I’ll get something set up… Is he close by?”

“Just behind me,” replied the Champion. “Er… our friend here, he’s…”

“Injured, I can tell,” Ravio said as he wrung his hands together.

For a moment, the Hero of the Wilds glanced around the first room of the Hero of Legend’s home. It was always odd - each of their homes felt like home to them, no matter how different their lives were. Despite the mess of boxes, items strewn about, and the highly decorated walls filled with everything from shovels to instruments, the hoarded mess of the Veteran’s home still felt… like home.

Ravio sauntered off to an adjacent room, where he began to remove boxes from a bed that had clearly just been used as a shelf in the midst of mild cleaning. The Hero of the Wilds peeked in as the strange merchant began to dig through a box in order to find an extra blanket.

“Uh… Is… Is this his bed?” asked the Champion, nervous for a moment as he placed the Hero of Hyrule down on it. “I don’t want to--”

“Oh? No, no, no, no,” Ravio insisted. “His bed is upstairs. This is technically my bed, I suppose I could say.” The merchant absentmindedly gestured to the ceiling as he spoke, and then placed the extra blanket off to the side. “Tell me what happened.”

“... Oh. Uh… we arrived and got swarmed. He got slammed with a Blin’s club. We thought he was fine, but then… This happened,” the Hero of the Wilds explained.

Any further discussion was paused as the front door slammed open and the Hero of Legend’s voice could be heard: “Alright, where are you?”

“Is the sprite okay?!” called out the Hero of the Sky.

“We're here, in the bedroom!” replied the Hero of the Wilds, approaching the door and letting the others file in as carefully as they could with the amount of boxes and items that the Hero of Legend had strewn about. “Ravio is already looking him over. I… We haven’t had that much time.”

There was a moment of silence as the others flocked toward the bed as best they could, and Ravio was taking the time to look over the Hero of Hyrule with a strange, serious expression on his face. The Hero of Legend, still using his Fire Rod as a cane, approached carefully, not liking the merchant’s silence as he poked and prodded the sprite. It didn’t help that the sprite was also moaning and crying out with each touch.

“Ravio?” asked the Hero of Legend. “... How is…?”

“Quiet for a moment, Link,” snapped Ravio, as he turned to give the Veteran a stern expression. “He’s got at least three broken ribs, and that’s being optimistic.” He gestured back to the sprite on the bed, a frown evident. “I’m going to need some serious first aid supplies. All I have are standard items and bandages. Do you think your relatives might be able to…?”

“... We can’t, we’re going to have to work with what we have,” the Hero of Legend said with a sigh. “There’s a serious storm on the way.”

Ravio appeared thoughtful for only a brief moment. When he finally spoke, it was with great hesitation. “Then there’s not much we can do. Broken ribs can lead to so many complications, Link. Your friend could develop pneumonia. The bones could cause his lungs to collapse. Pierce them, or even his heart.” He crossed his arms, considering their options. “If I had more herbs and stronger plants and parts, I could make some powerful medicine of my own… But… that still involves…”

Both of them glanced out the nearby window, mildly obscured by a stack of books and loose leaf paper. The storm was evidently very near. The distant sound of thunder rolling was not appealing, either. Ravio let out a little sigh, before he swiftly spun around to leave the room.

“Where are you going?” asked the Hero of the Wind.

“Off to find supplies, we have to have _something_ I can use here for him!” Ravio insisted, digging around the boxes. “Link, please tell me you have bottles. If I can at least make up _stronger_ potions, it should be able to hold him off until the storm passes.”

The Hero of Legend tapped his chin for a moment, while the others turned to him, concerned. “I have bottles. Somewhere.” He looked down, a scrunched up expression on his face. “Where did I put them…?”

The other Heroes found themselves looking around the room. It left plenty to wonder about where he had left the bottles that he claimed he had. The house was, for lack of a better word, a mess. With the Hero of Legend being such a hoarder, it was impossible to know what was where, save for the obvious things such as his instruments, shovels, rings and many maps and books. Taking in account the Veteran was currently suffering from a leg injury, the others scattered to dive into boxes, cabinets, and containers to look for bottles. The Hero of Warriors stayed behind, staying at the sprite’s side.

For a moment, no one said anything, as they searched through the entirety of the first floor. There was a cry from the Hero of the Sky as the shovels once more decided to fall on top of him as they had before during their last visit. The Hero of the Four Sword rushed to help put them back, as Ravio finally gave a huff and straightened, putting his hands to his hips.

“Link, I swear, this mess has to be picked up!” He threw his arms in the air, turning to the bedroom door where the Hero of Legend was now standing in the doorway, perplexed, with the Fire Rod still at his side. “We can’t find the bottles!”

“Well, they’re in the house,” the Hero of Legend stressed. “They didn’t up and leave! Did you check the kitchen?” He turned at the sound of the Hero of the Wind playing around with one of his instruments. “Hey, leave that alone! What did I tell you last time we were here?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Ravio then as a response, and he turned briskly to another box in the room. “All you have is dirty dishes in here!” The Hero of Time stiffened and rushed to grab a stack of plates that then threatened to fall as the merchant’s hood brushed against them. “The bottles aren't here, Link!”

That caused a moment of hesitation from the Veteran, as he limped up to stop the Hero of the Wild from fiddling with the mirror again. “Did you check upstairs? Sometimes I throw things up there, too.” From that comment, the Hero of the Sky peered up the ladder-like staircase, seeing a box dangerously close to the edge of the loft-like second floor.

Ravio was clearly not impressed. “Why would you throw things up there?!  Link, where are the bottles?!” He turned to help the Hero of the Four Sword with one of the shovels, before handing him a box to loot through.

“I don’t know, okay?!” the Hero of Legend finally admitted. “But they’re in the house! They’re somewhere in the house!” He gestured with his free hand across the mess, but he only got dirty looks from everyone.

“Then help!” Ravio insisted, pointing to the floor dramatically. “Link, this is your mess, don’t make your family pick through it!”

“Hey, I happen to _like_ this mess, if you guys can’t handle it, that’s not my problem.”

With a loud, exasperated huff from the merchant, he rounded on the nearest Link, which happened to be the Hero of Twilight. “You! You’re an adventurer, too, yes? Give me your bottles!”

The Hero of Twilight backed away, hands raised. “Hold on, I can’t, they have oil in them for my lantern.” He even removed one to show that it was filled with a deep coloured oil - to the brim. The others sighed at the sight, and the Hero of Legend scoffed.

“Fine!” Now Ravio turned to the Hero of the Wind, frozen by a stack of books and papers now. “You! Do you have bottles?”

There was a moment as the pike had a look of deep concentration. “Um… I do. But I filled them with my grandma’s soup when we visited her.” The Hero of the Sky gave a load huff at that, but at least gave the pirate a small smile afterwards. They all understood.

Ravio blinked, and decided to move on. “Fair.” He turned his attention to the next Hero, the Hero of the Four Sword, still huddled around the shovels. It looked to the Hero of Legend as if he had been attempting to hide, even. “You! The smallest! Do you have bottles?” Ravio’s expression was stern. He was clearly tired of asking.

“Um…” A swarm of colour in the Hero’s eyes indicated to the others that a private conversation was taking place. “... Yeah.”

“Are they empty?” Ravio slowly began to step forward, intent clear that he was every inch, a few seconds apart from straight up mugging the poor Smithy for the bottles if they were. The Hero of Legend was just about to step up to stop him when the Smithy finally spoke.

“... Yeah…?” Oh, Smithy, what have you done?

“Good!” exclaimed Ravio. “Give them to me! Now!”

The Hero of the Four Sword gave a yelp as he bolted to take out his bottles and pass them to Ravio, even managing to trip over a box of Labrynna maps on the way over. Ravio took them carefully and hurried over to a table, using one arm to swiftly move a basket filled with medallions off to the side. It nearly toppled over, but the Hero of the Wilds jumped to grab it. Everyone watched as Ravio then removed several ingredients from various pockets in his cloak and placed them on the table. He took stock of what he had, already working on pounding one of the items into a powder, until he cursed mildly under his breath.

“I’m short something… Link, that garden of yours out front, it has radishes, right?” he asked mildly, ears twitching as he took notice that the storm was already on top of them. “Go get me two.”

“Two?” The Hero of Legend blinked at that, clearly trying to think of what the garden had. “Ravio, I can’t. It’s storming out, and it’s bad enough I’m walking as it is.”

“Walking? You walk all the time--” Ravio finally turned, then blinked for a long moment as he took in the sight of the Fire Rod still clearly being used as a crutch by the Veteran. “For goodness’ sake, Link, the Fire Rod is not a walking cane. What did you do?” When his response was a dismissive shrug as the Hero of Legend turned to go back into the bedroom to check on the Heroes of Hyrule and Warriors, the merchant gave a loud huff once more and turned back to the Smithy. “Since you’ve already been so helpful, can _you_ go get me two radishes from the garden?”

“Uh… But the…” The Hero of the Four Sword glanced out the window to see nothing but a curtain of rain. “Uh.” The distant sounds of groaning from the Hero of Hyrule was the game changer. If he got the radishes for Ravio, then the sprite would get better, right? “Alright. You need Hearty Radishes, right?”

“That’s right. You’re a smart one,” Ravio said with a small smile, as he reached over to grab one of the loose capes hanging off a chair. It was bright red, a startling shade, but the Hero of the Four Sword only had a moment to really admire it as the merchant moved to put it on him. “This is Link’s -- I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you borrowing it. It’ll protect you out there.”

The sound of roaring thunder alerted to all of them that they were in the midst of a stormy chaos, likely as bad as the one they’d suffered on the Hero of the Wind’s ship. At least this time, they were safe in a house. But the sprite, he wasn’t just yet.

“I’ll be back,” the Hero of the Four Sword promised, as he braved his way across the house to the front door, and slipped out as carefully as he could.

“Right!” Ravio now turned to the others, and pointed at the Hero of Twilight. “You seem like an able-bodied relative, nice and big and tough! Reminds me of tales of Link’s uncle, to be honest!” He gestured to a pile of boxes blocking the entrance to another room, and more blocking the fireplace. A fire hazard, really, they all realized. “We’re going to be here for a while, so we’ll need to move things aside to make room for everyone. I need you to move those to the back storage area. I’m sure Link meant to get to it, but now he’s walking around on a bum leg. So.”

The Hero of Twilight sighed. “Yeah, I can do that.” Rolling his shoulders for a moment, he stepped up to one of the boxes and swiftly and easily picked it up, and began to move it to the back room. The Hero of the Sky rushed up to get the door for him, and what greeted them was a cold and dark room that had clearly been avoided for some time. Cobwebs grew in the corner, but only one lone chest sat in the room, marked with just two simple words, ‘Uncle’s Things’.

Ravio now turned to the Hero of Time. “If I can ask you, dear sir, to please make sure that the upper loft is not as clustered as Link implied? Once I’m done with this and the one with broken ribs, I’ll be taking care of that leg, and he’s to stay off it. Preferably on his own bed with no distractions.”

“Of course,” replied the old man, and he climbed up the ladder to take care of just that.

Now it occurred to the Hero of the Sky, as he stood by the storage door that refused to stay open, just what Ravio was doing, as the merchant now turned to the Hero of the Wilds to ask him to take care of the mess in the kitchen. In his own quirky little way, he was keeping them all busy. It was a sweet gesture, he thought to himself, to busy them with cleaning up the Hero of Legend’s hoarded mess. And now, with everyone pretty much occupied save for the Hero of the Wind, he was showing the young pike just what he was doing to make the medicine necessary to help the Hero of Hyrule.

“The loft isn’t even that bad,” stated the Hero of Time suddenly as he climbed down the stairs bearing a box loaded to the brim with various boomerangs and slingshots. “No sign of the bottles, but apparently the Vet has more boomerangs than we thought.”

“He does have quite a few,” Ravio replied as he looked up from monitoring the Hero of the Wind’s progress with mixing up the potion. “If you’d be so kind as to just put that in the bedroom? And please check on Link and your friend.”

“Of course.” The Hero of Time fixed his grip on the box and moved into the bedroom where the Hero of Hyrule was still on the bed, clearly in pain. The Hero of Warriors had taken his scarf and rolled it up to make it into a pillow, which caused some minor confusion, until the Hero of Time noticed that the actual pillow had been relocated to being used as a soft surface for the Hero of Legend to rest his leg from where he sat on the floor. It seemed he’d also finally given it some minor first aid, as it was now wrapped with bandages.

The Hero of Legend, meanwhile, crossed his arms at the sight of the box. “What do you have my boomerangs for?”

“Ravio is ordering a mass cleanup,” the Hero of Time announced, and his response was a groan. “... I think the ulterior motive is to keep us distracted.”

“No shit,” answered the Vet. “He’s not even sure he can do anything just yet. He can send any of us all he wants out into the garden, but the radishes could’ve been stolen for all we know.” He leaned back a little to nudge a box out of the way to make room for the boomerangs and slingshots. “That and he’s been hounding at me for ages to sort through all of this. Now he has minions.”

The Hero of Warriors scoffed as he looked up from the sprite. “Oh, I see what he’s doing. It’s free labour. Glad I stayed here, then. I don’t want to pick up your mess, vet.”

“It’s better someone was, anyway. If there wasn’t, guaranteed Ravio would’ve sent one of us in the midst of his bossing everyone around,” replied the Hero of Legend with a disinterested shrug and a stern poker face. “He told you to check on us, too, didn’t he? I’m on to him.”

“How’s the leg?” asked the Hero of Time, not even bothering to confirm as he moved to put the box down in the space that had been made.

The response was initially a shrug, but a glare from both the Heroes of Time and Warriors made the Veteran reconsider his response. “Stings like a bitch, still been through worse. I’m not the one Ravio has to be worried about. He is, anyway, but that should all go to the sprite.”

A groan caused them to turn their attention to the Hero of Hyrule. The Hero of Time moved to kneel down beside the bed, running a hand along the brown hair of the sprite, concern evident. “... Where… where are we…?”

“My house,” replied the Hero of Legend. “You were awake when you were brought here.”

“I wasn't paying attention…” admitted the sprite. “Chest hurts.”

The Hero of Warriors furrowed his brow. “Pick a number between one and ten, sprite. Tell us how much.” He ignored the concerned expression he received from the Hero of Time for his question, but he had to know. He had to know what their humble traveler was going through. If they knew,  they could tell Ravio, who was doing everything he could to help them.

There was a moment of silence until the Hero of Hyrule finally replied with, “... Eight.”

The Hero of Legend winced at the response, and moved to get up, reaching out for the Fire Rod again. “Alright, I’m going to go see if Ravio has anything to kill the pain.”

“You sit yourself right back down,” barked the Hero of Time, moving to stand. “I’ll go ask Ravio. You’re not to stand on that leg for another minute.” When the Vet moved to protest, the old man simply turned away. “I’m sure you’ve done enough damage to it already. The sprite being injured the way he is, that’s bad enough. Don’t add to it.”

With a huff, the Hero of Legend crossed his arms and remained where he was. The Hero of Time moved to leave the room, and was greeted with a sudden yell from the Hero of the Sky as he left his post by the storage room door to rush to the front entryway, a blanket in hand. The old man turned, and found the sight of the Hero of the Four Sword trembling at the door, two large Hearty Radishes in hand, and soaked through the cape, his tunic, and to the bone.

“Smithy!” the Hero of the Wind called from the table where he stood with Ravio, who was looking on with mild discomfort. “You’re alright!”

“Alright, wet, and cold,” replied the Hero of the Four Sword as he was bundled up in the blanket. “But, I got the radishes.” He held them out, and the Hero of the Wind gently took them and brought them back to Ravio. “Please tell me there’s a fireplace in here. It’s hard to tell with all the Vet’s things everywhere.”

“There is, we’re working on unburying it,” commented the Hero of Twilight.

“Good… Freezing.” The Smithy shivered as he was lead to a freshly cleaned off chair, and forced to sit down. The Hero of the Sky grabbed a towel from the bathroom and then started to work at drying him off. “Is that good…? Should I go back out there?”

Ravio made a tsking sound, and shook his head as he worked at cutting up the radishes. “Absolutely not, out of the question, who do you think you are, all that and more.”

Any further conversation, such as the Hero of Time asking the merchant for painkillers, was immediately halted by the sound of obnoxious knocking at the front door. Ravio froze, and turned to it with a disgruntled expression, as a loud voice sounded through the wood. “Link! Link, you in there?! Someone reported someone lurking in your radish patch!”

“Oh, for the love of…” muttered the Hero of Legend as he got up and limped his way to the door, heavily leaning on his Fire Rod. “Ravio, under the bed. I got this. No one say a word. Don’t be in view.”

“What…?” The Hero of the Sky had never been as confused as he was in this moment, as he watched Ravio briskly move to the bedroom to hide under the bed, and the others rushed to hide as well. He, himself, rushed into the bedroom just in time to see the Hero of Warriors cover the sprite with a blanket.

“Well, look who it is,” they all heard the Hero of Legend chime excitedly. “I remember you. You’re the one that set off the alarm in Kakariko all the time.”

“We apologized for that, Sir Link. You know we weren’t in our right minds at the time,” said the knight as he showed himself in, brushing past the Veteran without much care to the fact that he hadn’t even been given permission to enter the house. “I’m not here for that anyways. A merchant rushing to town to dodge the current storm told us someone was stealing your radishes.” He glanced around the main room of the house as he moved to take off his helmet, opting to stay away from the cluttered walls.

The Hero of Legend scoffed, moving to watch the knight carefully as he leaned against his wall. “I don’t really care for my radishes, so they’re free to a good home.”

In response, the Knight sighed, turning to the Hero, resting his helmet in the crook of his right arm. “Listen, it’s still your property, and someone was trespassing. You’re the Hero of Legend, and a dear friend to the Princess - though personally, I don’t see what she sees in you.” The Hero of Legend scoffed once more. “Think of it this way, Sir Link, if _she_ knew someone stole your radishes, what would _she_ do?”

“Likely compensate me for the loss, I guess,” the Veteran admitted. “That, or laugh with me that someone was daring enough to try in a storm anyway to steal from me.” He gestured to his front door. “Seriously, I’ll take care of it, you’ve got bigger problems with Kakariko. Can you _kindly leave?_ ”

The Knight sighed, but began to approach the door. “Listen, if we have a thief on the loose in Hyrule, we need to know. If you’re letting someone just steal your radishes, think of what that would do to Kakariko in general. Please. Have some consideration for your dearest friend’s kingdom.”

The Hero of Legend stiffened. “I did. And I said I’d take care of it.”

“I hope you mean that,” the Knight stated, before he opened the door, allowing some rain to pierce through and into the house. “Have a good night, Sir Link. Shall I tell the Princess you send your regards? She’ll be happy to know you’re back in Hyrule.”

In response, the Hero of Legend shoved him out the door. “Sure. Fine. Do that.” He slammed the door behind the Knight, not even bothering to check if he’d managed to get his helmet back on, and he turned back to the rest of the house. “Alright, guy’s gone, you’re all free to come out now.”

“... What was that about?” asked the Hero of Time as Ravio wormed his way out from under the bed. “Why is Ravio under the bed, why did you order us to hide…?”

“As far as the rest of Hyrule is aware, Link here lives alone,” Ravio explained as he straightened and fixed his robes. “I’m… er… illegal, I suppose you could say. I’m not really registered in the land of Hyrule, nor am I really allowed to be here.” He wrung his hands as he cautiously stepped out of the bedroom, moving back to the table where the ingredients were still set up. “So, whenever Link gets… unwanted visitors, I… need to hide. If the guards found out, it won’t be pretty. So, we have a routine. No one goes into that bedroom out of respect, so...”

“My uncle was a royal knight,” the Hero of Legend explained, still leaning against the wall of the front entryway. “That was his bedroom. Now it’s Ravio’s. No one will go in because of how ‘amazing’ and ‘respectable’ my uncle was as a knight, so Ravio will never get discovered by people that will likely try to kill him for illegally entering the country and living with the local Link. Works perfectly.”

The Hero of the Wilds was quite perplexed by this logic. “You’re apparently a… dear friend of your Zelda, and you’re harbouring an _illegal immigrant_ in your house?”

The Hero of Legend shrugged, a wide smirk on his face. “Eh. It’s fine. She knows about him.”

“That doesn’t make it any better, Vet!”

“Everyone, calm down,” the Hero of Time stressed, gathering everyone’s attention away from the argument. “We should be focusing on the matter at hand. The sprite?”

Ravio piped up from the table. “I’m almost done, I just need to heat it up and make sure it turns red.” He turned the fireplace, seeing it was free of most of its clutter, and turned to the Hero of Legend. “Link, if you will? We need a fire going now for sure.”

“Please, I’m still cold,” said the Hero of the Four Sword.

The Hero of Legend limped up to the fireplace, joined by the sound of the clack of the Fire Rod meeting the floor as he leaned against it. Ravio rushed up by his side bearing his little concoction in a small pot. They stood there, side by side, the Vet putting a hand to Ravio’s shoulder for support, as he lifted the Rod to use its Blin-killing power to light the fireplace.

The others watched as the fire roared to life before them, the Hero of the Sky turning to the two of them with a look of mild concern. “So, how often do you use the power of a magical weapon to light your fireplace?”

“Probably just this once. We usually have matches and flint and whatnot, but right now we don’t have time to fiddle with that,” Ravio explained as he placed the pot over the fire. “Once it starts to boil, it should take only ten minutes and then you’ll have a Medicine of Life ready for your friend.” He turned to them with a careful smile as he worked at stirring it. “... Free of charge.”

“Oh!” the Hero of the Wind chirped. “Really?”

“Well, of course, this is life and death, and you _are_ Link’s family,” Ravio began to stutter, as he turned briskly back to the pot. It was clear he was more than a little embarrassed.

The Hero of Legend gave a strange, rare, soft smile to Ravio as he stayed next to him, heavily leaning against the merchant. “Well, we appreciate it. It means a lot.” At this rare show of genuine care, Ravio turned and gave him an incredulous expression, and the Veteran quickly turned his head away. “... Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Ravio started immediately as he turned back to the potion.

From there, everything went quiet, as the Hero of the Four Sword got up to approach the fire to warm up and watch Ravio make the medicine. The Hero of the Sky gently approached the cluster to drag the Hero of Legend to the chair, all but pushing him down into it. At the glare he received, the Chosen One simply shrugged with a small smile. For a moment, there was just pure silence, as the Hero of the Wilds kept cleaning in the kitchen, and the Heroes of Time and Twilight discussed any further action.

It was a shame it didn’t last, as the Hero of Warriors burst into the room, demanding, “I need something _now_ , it’s gotten worse!” He stormed across the room, as Ravio turned, slightly horrified. “His breathing is getting horribly shallow, and I don’t know what to do. I just can’t sit there and do nothing!”

“Ravio’s not _done_ yet,” the Hero of Legend said, seething. “I know it’s hurting the sprite, and it sucks to watch, but the most we can do is give him a cold press. Which I _don’t have_ and so I know I can’t do.”

“A cold press?” the Hero of the Wind asked. “Like a frozen rag that my grandma would use when me or Aryll gets scraped?”

“Exactly like that,” the Hero of Time replied. “We’ll need to figure out something to help the sprite in the meantime.”

“This?” came a sudden voice, and everyone turned to see the Hero of the Wilds holding up what seemed to be a strip of frozen meat. “This will help.” He tossed it to the Hero of Warriors, who rushed back into the bedroom immediately. Brow etched with worry, he turned to the Hero of Legend, deciding to change the subject from the spite’s pained groans coming from the bedroom. “Kitchen’s all cleaned up for the most part. I wasn’t sure what to do with all the stuff on your dining room table, though.”

The Hero of Legend waved it off. “It’s fine, I’m not picky about where I eat.”

“Well, when you do,” Ravio commented as he stared at the now boiling liquid intensely. “But you have far less of an appetite than I do.” He poked at the fire with a stick and turned to give the Vet a small smile. “Though, I suppose, it’s not entirely your fault, that.”

Shocked by his words, the others turned to the Hero of Legend with concerned expressions, but the Veteran merely gave a scoff and his attention to the Hero of the Wilds. “Got to hand it to you, champ, never would have thought of frozen meat to use for the cold press. I typically tend to wait it out or use a potion.”

“Sometimes I use chillshrooms, too, but I used those up,” the Hero of the Wilds admitted. “I’m going to go help the good Captain.” He gestured needlessly to the bedroom and then stalked away.

The only sounds for a moment was the sprite’s distant groans and the stirring of the potion as Ravio tended to it. No one else dared say anything, as the Hero of the Wind moved to settle next to the Hero of the Four Sword, and the Heroes of Time and Twilight continued their conversation. The Hero of the Sky gave a sigh, realizing that no one was going to break the silence, and so he put a hand to the Hero of Legend’s shoulder.

“... So… about your… appetite,” he ventured. “Er… you always seem to eat fine with us.”

The Hero of Legend sighed dramatically. “We’re really going to bring this up? I don’t want to talk about it, and we’re not going to talk about it.” He stiffened when Ravio turned to look away from the potion to give him a glare. “What? They don’t need to know!”

“They’re your family, aren’t they?” asked Ravio. “They don’t know what your childhood was like?”

“As if they need to know at all! Only reason _you_ know is cause yours mirrored mine!” the Hero of Legend argued, reaching for something to throw at the merchant, which the Hero of the Sky quickly grabbed to prevent any harm. “Besides, they’re not really my family, they’re technically _me!_ ”   
  
Everyone in the room froze, from the Hero of the Sky all the way to Ravio before the fire. No one spoke. All they did was stare at each other, stunned and unsure of what to do. The Hero of Legend finally gave out a groan and turned away, crossing his arms and not saying a word. Ravio only let out a squeak when the pot on the fire began to boil over, moving to take it off using his sleeve and transfer it to the table.

And still, no one said anything.

“Look… Ravio,” the Veteran finally began, as Ravio quietly transferred the freshly brewed potion into the Smithy’s offered bottles. “They’re… also ‘Link’, heroes of Hyrule and saviours of the land, going around doing Hylia’s bidding… they’re ‘Link’ from other times and timelines and whatnot. They’re--”

“--Still your family, then,” Ravio cut in, closing the bottles. “And thus, don’t they have a right to know what you went through in place of them?” He turned to them, holding two fresh new Medicines, a small smile on his face. “I’m not mad. I’m just hurt that you didn’t tell me until now, and that you’re not telling them equally important things regarding us, or you, or any of this.” He turned his attention down to the floor. “I suppose what I’m trying to say is… you really don’t trust yourself, do you, Link?”

The words from the merchant caused a hitch in the Hero of Legend’s throat, and he clenched a fist. “... I guess not.” He sighed and covered his face with his hands, not even sure where to begin. “Okay, look, this is how it is. This Hyrule’s economy? It stinks.”

The Hero of the Wind blinked. “Stinks?”

“What do you mean?” asked the Hero of the Four Sword, curious and concerned.

Ravio was the one to reply. “Taxes and other things… impoverished people… Not even the castle and its staff is free from it from what Li… uh… my? My Link’s told me.”

“I spent a good portion of my childhood going to bed hungry because supper wasn’t big enough, and in the morning, breakfast wasn’t really a thing, either,” the Hero of Legend explained, ignoring Ravio’s possessive term on his name. “But that’s why I don’t always eat that great. I’m used to it.” He took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, looking horribly uncomfortable. “... I guess I should also mention I have a sister. Ravio knows about _that_ , too.”

“Oh! You have a sister, too?” the Hero of the Wind exclaimed excitedly. “Come on, tell us about her! Please! Is she like Aryll? Why is she not here with Ravio?”

“Um…” Ravio stepped up, holding out the bottles for all to see. “I’m going to go give these to your friend. They should at least prevent any further damage and help the pain.” He offered a small smile to the Hero of Legend. “... You don’t have to talk about her, y’know. It’ll only add more trouble for you.”

“I know,” the Hero of Legend sighed, as Ravio left the room to deliver the potions. “Which is why I am choosing not to say a--”

“But I want to hear about your sister!” whined the Hero of the Wind, completely interrupting.

In response, the Hero of Legend scoffed playfully and crossed his arms. “Well, that’s nice, pike, but it can totally get me killed by, like, a hundred nobles if I even mention who my birth parents are to talk about her.” He went quiet for a moment, clearly debating. “But I guess if its you guys…”

“We won’t say a word,” said the Hero of Time then, as they all settled down before the Hero of Legend. “I promise you that.”

The Hero of Legend leaned back in his chair. “Alright, so, story-time I guess. The mom and dad I remember? They’re not my birth parents. I was handed off to them at birth. They weren’t the greatest, either, so I’m going to skip several years until the day my uncle took me in.” He gestured to the room where Ravio and the Heroes of Hyrule, Warriors and the Wilds were in. The groans from the sprite could no longer be heard. “He’s not related to either of my adopted parents, he just… kind of took me from them.”

The Hero of Wind had a perplexed, confused expression at the Hero of Legend’s words. No one was certain what he wasn’t able to understand, but it was obvious that something was not making sense in his head. Bless the pirate, however, in that he didn’t bring it up, and allowed the Veteran to continue to speak.

“I was…” He paused. “Bah, I don’t remember ages anymore. It was my first adventure, when my uncle told me. He knew who I was, where I had come from, and who my birth family was. He’s really my uncle… brother to my father, the King of Hyrule.” He let that sink in. “... See, typically, boys born to the royal family are cast out into rivers or shit in hopes that they die. I was spared because of the Sacred Triangle mark on my hand.”

There was a moment of silence from everyone in the room. It was the Hero of Twilight that had chosen to speak. “... So you and your Zelda… who knows about the illegal immigrant living with you, and is apparently a dear friend of yours… is your _sister_?”

“Yep, don’t tell anyone, not even her,” the Hero of Legend said then, finally moving to stand. “That’s all for the great big emotion-fest for the day, alright?”

“Wait!” the Hero of the Sky blurted out. “She doesn’t even know?”

“Nope--”

A call gave out from the bedroom, then, and Ravio stepped into the door frame, a smile on his face. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s someone who’s a little more coherent I’m sure you’ll all want to see.”

Only a few seconds passed before everyone from the injured Hero of Legend to the still damp Hero of the Four Sword stood up and raced into the bedroom. Ravio was nearly flattened from the stampede, but had managed to get out of the way easily enough for the others to make their way to the bed. Much to their delight, the Hero of Hyrule laid there, seemingly content and muttering away to the Hero of the Wilds. When the others settled down by the bed, he turned to them with a weak smile.

“... Hey,” was all he said.

“Hey yourself,” replied the Hero of Legend. “Glad to see you… not in pain.”

He winced in reply. “... Glad to not really be in pain anymore, really…” In honesty, despite the fact that he was clearly feeling better, it was obvious to all of them that he still lay in the bed feeling great discomfort. “Whatever the Vet’s friend gave me… it’s doing wonders.”

“Not entirely,” countered the Hero of Time. “It’s only a standard potion, so don’t do anything stupid, like our Veteran friend, here.”

“Speaking of which,” interrupted Ravio as he moved to take the Hero of Legend’s arm. “I have just enough leftover to treat whatever you did to your leg.” Then, without much care for the loud and obnoxious protesting, he dragged the Hero of Legend away to take him upstairs.

That left the group minus two as they huddled around the bed with the Hero of Hyrule on it. The Hero of Time reached out to ruffle the sprite’s hair, offering him a small smile. “Did I really scare everyone…?”

“Yes,” retorted the Hero of Warriors. “We’re stuck in the Vet’s house in a huge storm and we had to get Ravio to make that potion _manually_ , it was awful, sprite, awful.”

“Never get slammed in the chest by a giant moblin’s club ever again,” added the Hero of the Sky.

“That goes for all of you,” the Hero of Time countered. “You boys are getting reckless, and I won’t put up with it.”

The Hero of Hyrule gave a weak laugh. “Ravio said I should stay in bed for a while, so it hopefully won’t happen again for some time…”

“It’ll be like one giant sleepover at the Veteran’s house!” the Hero of the Wind cheered, giving the Hero of the Four Sword one big smile. “Isn’t it exciting? It’d be like when we stayed at my grandma’s for a few days, and she gave us all that soup!”

“Well, calm down, first off,” the Hero of the Four Sword said with a laugh. “I don’t think we’ll be staying _here_ , the Vet’s isn’t all that geared for company.” He crossed his arms in thought, wondering what Kakariko was like. From what the Knight and the Vet had said, it sounded like a town with merchants, at least. “Maybe the town has an inn…?”

“The Veteran has bedrolls,” the Hero of Twilight pointed out. “... And blankets. A lot of blankets.”

“The issue would be finding the floor-space,” added the Hero of the Wilds. “What’s that loft like? Decent-sized? It’s where his bed is, right?”

“It’s… decent,” said the Hero of Time with a wince. “He’s got crates up there for some reason, though.”

Yelling could be heard from the upstairs, and they all paused to look up at the ceiling with perplexed expressions. The Hero of Hyrule sighed as he got comfortable in the bed, looking calm and at least relaxed despite the added argument ambiance. While they couldn’t make out the words that were being said, they’d all decided to assume that it was about the bed-rest Ravio had mentioned putting the Hero of Legend on earlier.

“First,” the Hero of Time began, as he turned to step out of the room and to intervene, “... let’s focus on making sure they don’t kill each other.”


End file.
